SAN DIEGO — The mere presence of Scottie Scheffler changes the temperature on a golf course. He’s there, a quiet and uncomfortable breath on the back of your neck.

Scheffler causes some of the best golfers in the world to adjust their approach, to quicken their pace, to push more than they might.

As weekends approach on the PGA Tour, the top-ranked player in the world is the doubt that needles the game of others. Like storm clouds on the horizon, he’s coming.

Scheffler stands at 7-under halfway through the $20 million Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines, stalking one stroke behind leader Davis Thompson.

“He thinks so clearly and makes good decisions, being able to flight shots in different positions,” CBS Sports broadcaster Dottie Pepper said Friday. “That’s how Tiger (Woods) played at his height.

“He makes other players believe they have to take chances to potentially win. It makes competitors feel like they have to be perfect to beat him.”

That’s because Scheffler so commonly is perfect himself. His second round was blemish-less with three birdies and an eagle out of the bunker on No. 6. He tied for the second-lowest round of the day.

Even when he’s working his way back, it trumps peak form for most others.

“I’m trying to be pretty patient with myself coming off of surgery,” Scheffler said. “That’s part of kind of building back up from the stuff that I lost in the offseason and I feel like I’m getting better each day.”

Scheffler applies the pressure slowly like a snake slowly squeezing its prey. Mistakes or mental miscues are as rare as Indian Head pennies.

“I think he has the best golfing brain in the world,” said Shane Lowry, ranked No. 18 and sitting at 2-over through two rounds. “He manages himself better than anyone else.”

Think back a week to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Scheffler trailed in the final round by five strokes, but stood as the odds-on favorite to win in Vegas with 18 holes to play. He defies conventional math … and logic.

The confidence bubbles up in situations common and uncommon.

“Good decision-making travels,” Pepper said of Scheffler’s versatility and adaptability. “And ball control always travels. He controls flight and he controls distance and he controls spin. He can put those things in the carry-on and count on being in the conversation Sunday afternoon.”

Scheffler does not panic or push. He waits. He pounces.

In the second round Friday that came on No. 6, his 15th hole of the day after starting on the back-9 of the South Course. He holed out from the bunker for eagle.

You need to stay within striking distance because the demoralizing moment is inbound.

Even then, Scheffler does not uncork the Tiger Woods fist pump that threatens to jerk his arm out of its shoulder socket. It’s low-key, understated and fueled by confidence more than emotion.

“Everything is based on fundamentals with him,” Pepper said. “Scottie’s just clean. It’s rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. He has a will somewhat like Tiger’s, though. He’s not going to settle for OK.”

Though he’s not the unrelenting menace Tiger has been so many times in his career, the dread of him looming feels familiar.

That’s the highest of mental bars.

“He’s not there yet,” Lowry said. “But if he does it for another couple of seasons, he probably will get to that.”

To consider the stratosphere Scheffler has pierced, go back a season ago. San Diego’s favorite golfing son Xander Schauffele the British Open and PGA Championship.

There was no real debate that Scheffler was the player of the year, though, after piling up the Olympic gold medal, the Masters, The Tour Championship, the Players Championship and more. It was a stunning display of winning — and winning big.

The gulf between Scheffler and stars like Schauffele and Rory McIlroy?

“If you put all three of them side by side, say they all miss the green, Scottie chips to within four feet while the others are grinding over (longer putts),” Pepper said. “He’s just that much better.

“It’s quiet. It’s not brash. It’s not cocky. It’s quiet confidence that he’s prepared.”

The pendulum-like consistency ramps up fans by the round.

On the 10th Friday, a group of fans laughed at the gallery, saying with a laugh that: “No one wants to see anyone other than Scottie.”

After blistering a drive dead-straight on his 11th hole of the day, another comment waited.

“Poor ball,” one fan said.

Poor everyone.

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